Fixing element for rod-like components

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a fixing element, having a length compensating mechanism, which is used for fixing rod-like components of a furniture. The fixing element has a base part, that is fixed to a wall of the furniture, and an intermediate part with a shaft and a head. When mounted, the intermediate part connects the base part to the rod-like component. The intermediate part has a thread on the shaft, which can be screwed in a bore having an inner thread, which is located in the rod-like component. The head of the intermediate part also has a stop area which is in contact with the base part when it is mounted.

[0001] The present invention is directed to a fastening element for rod-like structural component parts inside a piece of furniture with a length compensation device.

[0002] Rod-like structural component parts for furniture are used, for example, to mount hinges of doors or the like. In order to fasten such rod-like structural component parts to furniture, through-holes are provided in the furniture and the rod-like structural component parts are fastened to the furniture wall by screws. However, it is disadvantageous that the fastening screws are visible from the outside of the furniture. Further, very small deviations in length allowance for the rod-like structural component part result in that the latter can no longer be installed in the furniture in an exact manner.

[0003] Further, DE 41 10 832 A1 discloses a detachable clamping connection for arranging a rod-shaped structural component part so as to be changeable in length. A stationary fastening of the structural component part is not described. U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,269 discloses a rod which can be clamped between walls; but its carrying force is extremely small due to the fastening technique on the wall side.

[0004] Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a fastening element for rod-like structural component parts of furniture which enables length compensation and in particular is not visible from the outer side of the furniture.

[0005] This object is met by a fastening element having the features of claim 1. Advantageous further developments are the subject of the subclaims.

[0006] The fastening element according to the invention for fastening rod-like structural component parts comprises a base part and an intermediate part. The base part can be fastened to a wall of a piece of furniture. The intermediate part has a head and a shaft with a thread. The shaft can be screwed into the rod-like structural component part by a bore hole having an internal or female thread. The head of the intermediate part has a stop area which is in contact with the base part in the mounted state. Accordingly, the construction according to the invention of the fastening element has length compensation so that rod-like structural component parts can always be securely fastened to walls of a piece of furniture. The length compensation is realized by screwing the intermediate part into the bore hole in the rod-like structural component part or unscrewing it from the latter. Further, the fastening element according to the invention can only be fastened to the inside of the furniture walls, so that it is not visible from an outer side of the furniture. The construction of the fastening element according to the invention also makes it possible that rod-like structural component parts can be clamped in between two opposite walls of a piece of furniture.

[0007] The base part advantageously has an external or male thread which can be made to engage with a female thread of a sleeve, so that the sleeve can be screwed onto the base part. In particular, by providing the sleeve at the fastening element according to the invention, the fastening element is concealed, so that a visually attractive impression of the fastening element is achieved.

[0008] The stop area is preferably formed at the intermediate part by a beveled annular area. In particular, this makes it possible to center the rod-like structural component part in the fastening element.

[0009] According to another preferred construction of the present invention, a beveled area is formed at the base part in order to come into contact with the stop area. Even though the stop area of the intermediate part is constructed as a beveled area, this results in a particularly good clamping effect between the base part and the intermediate part.

[0010] Two laterally flattened areas are preferably formed at the head of the intermediate part. Accordingly, a tool can be applied to the head of the intermediate part in a simple manner, so that it is possible to clamp in the rod-like structural component part in a simple manner.

[0011] The base part preferably has an elongated hole for fastening to the wall of the furniture to enable alignment when fastening the base part to the furniture wall.

[0012] Dimensional deviations due to tolerances of the individual structural component parts can be compensated in this way. The elongated hole is preferably arranged so as to be offset relative to a center of the base part. In this way, very great deviations can be compensated.

[0013] In order to protect the fastening element from dirt, the sleeve preferably has an inner groove for receiving a sealing ring. The sealing ring can be constructed as a simple O-ring and produced from plastic or rubber. At the same time, due to the sealing ring prevents the sleeve from slipping on the rod when not screwed onto the base part.

[0014] According to another preferred construction of the present invention, the sleeve has an inner stop area. This inner stop area can be used particularly to indicate when the intermediate part is unscrewed too far from the rod-like structural component part.

[0015] In order to apply a tool to the sleeve in a simple manner, two flattened areas which are located opposite one another are preferably formed at the sleeve.

[0016] In a particularly preferred manner, the fastening element according to the invention enables a length compensation in the range of about

4 mm.

[0017] Therefore, according to the invention, a fastening element is provided which has length compensation and can be fastened to a piece of furniture at the inner sides of the furniture without the need to provide through-holes in the walls of the furniture.

[0018] The invention will be shown in the following with reference to an embodiment example shown schematically.

[0019]FIG. 1 shows a perspective exploded view of a fastening element according to an embodiment example of the present invention;

[0020]FIG. 2 shows a side view of a mounted fastening element according to the embodiment example;

[0021]FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the mounted fastening element along line A-A in FIG. 2;

[0022]FIG. 4 shows a top view of a base part for the fastening element according to the embodiment example of the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 5 shows a sectional view along line B-B in FIG. 5;

[0024]FIG. 6 shows a top view of an intermediate part for the fastening element according to the embodiment example of the present invention;

[0025]FIG. 7 shows a side view of the intermediate part shown in FIG. 6;

[0026]FIG. 8 shows a side view of a sleeve of the fastening element according to the embodiment example of the present invention;

[0027]FIG. 9 shows a top view of the sleeve shown in FIG. 8;

[0028]FIG. 10 shows a side view of the sleeve which is rotated by 90° relative to FIG. 8;

[0029]FIG. 11 shows a sectional view along line C-C of FIG. 11; and

[0030]FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of the sleeve.

[0031] FIGS. 1 to 11 show a fastening element 1 with length compensation according to an embodiment example of the present invention.

[0032] As can be seen from FIG. 1 in particular, the fastening element 1 comprises a base part 4, an intermediate part 8 and a sleeve 14.

[0033] As is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the base part 4 has a male thread 5 and an elongated hole 6. The elongated hole 6 is arranged so as to be offset relative to a center line X-X of the base part 4, so that there is as much free room for compensation as possible when mounting the fastening element.

[0034] The intermediate part 8 comprises a shaft 9 and a head 10 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). The shaft 9 has a thread, and two oppositely located flattened areas 12 and 13 are formed at the head 10 so that a tool can be applied. Further, the head 10 comprises an inclined stop area 11 at its upper side. In the mounted state of the fastening element, the stop area 11 of the intermediate part 8 is in contact with a stop area 7 of the base part 4. The stop areas 7 and 11 are preferably formed with the same inclination.

[0035] As is shown in FIGS. 8 to 12, the sleeve 14 has a female thread 15, an inner stop area 16 and a groove 17. Further, two oppositely located flattened areas 18 and 19 are formed at the outer side of the sleeve 14 so that a tool can be applied to the sleeve 14. The groove 17 serves to receive an O-ring 21 for protecting the fastening element 1 from dust and dirt. In the mounted state, the female thread 15 of the sleeve 14 engages with the male thread 5 of the base part 4.

[0036] The mounting of the fastening element according to the invention and the length compensation function are described in the following. As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3, the fastening element 1 is screwed to an inner side of a wall 3 of a piece of furniture. For this purpose, a bore hole is provided in the furniture wall and a threaded sleeve 23 having a female thread is arranged in this bore hole. The base part 4 is oriented to the furniture wall 3 and is fastened by means of a screw 22 in the threaded sleeve 23. The base part 4 is fixedly attached to the furniture wall 3 without the need for a through-hole in the furniture wall 3. The fastening is accordingly invisible from the outer side of the furniture. In order to fasten a rod 2 between two walls of the furniture, the intermediate part 8 is screwed into a bore hole 20 provided with thread at the front of the rod 2 (see FIG. 3). The O-ring 21 is then placed in the groove 17 of the sleeve 14 and the sleeve is subsequently slipped over the rod 2. The rod 2 is then positioned between the two walls of the furniture and the intermediate part 8 is unscrewed from the rod 2 until the stop area 11 of the intermediate part 8 contacts the stop area 7 of the base part 4. The rod 2 is clamped in between two walls of the furniture in this way. It should be noted that a second fastening element according to the invention can be provided at the other end of the rod 2, for example, or the rod 2 can simply be screwed into a screw that is countersunk in the furniture wall 3. Since the stop area 11 of the intermediate part 8 and the stop area 7 of the base part 4 are inclined, a centering of the rod 2 is made possible at the same time.

[0037] After the rod 2 has been clamped between the two walls of the furniture, the sleeve 14 is slid over the intermediate part 8 and is screwed onto the male thread 5 of the base part 4. The fastening element 1 is accordingly effectively protected from dust and dirt. Further, the stop area 16 of the sleeve 14 comes into contact with the underside of the head 10 of the intermediate part 8 and accordingly prevents cancellation of the clamping connection between the intermediate part 8 and the base part 4. Moreover, the sleeve 14 ensures that the fastening element 1 can not be unintentionally detached.

[0038] In order to remove the rod 2, the sleeve 14 is simply unscrewed from the base part 4 again and the intermediate part 8 is screwed back into the rod 2, so that the intermediate part 8 is moved away from the base part 4 and the rod 2 can be removed from the furniture together with the intermediate part 8.

[0039] The present invention is accordingly directed to a fastening element 1 with length compensation which is used for fastening rod-like structural component parts 2 of furniture. The fastening element 1 comprises a base part 4 which is fastened to a furniture wall 3, and an intermediate part 8 with a shaft 9 and a head 10. The intermediate part 8 connects the base part 4 with the rod-like structural component part 2 in the mounted state. The intermediate part 8 has a thread at the shaft 9 which can be screwed into a bore hole 20 with female thread in the rod-like structural component part 2. Further, the head 10 of the intermediate part 8 has a stop area 11 which is in contact with the base part 4 in the mounted state.

[0040] The preceding description of the embodiment example according to the present invention is used for purposes of illustration and is not intended to limit the invention. Various changes and modifications are possible within the framework of the invention without departing from the invention or its equivalents.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0041]1 fastening element

[0042]2 rod

[0043]3 furniture wall

[0044]4 base part

[0045]5 male thread

[0046]6 elongated hole

[0047]7 stop area

[0048]8 intermediate part

[0049]9 shaft

[0050]10 head

[0051]11 stop area

[0052]12 flattened area

[0053]13 flattened area

[0054]14 sleeve

[0055]15 female thread

[0056]16 outer stop area

[0057]17 groove

[0058]18 flattened area

[0059]19 flattened area

[0060]20 bore hole

[0061]21 O-ring

[0062]22 screw

[0063]23 threaded sleeve 

1-11. (cancelled)
 12. A fastening device for fastening a rod to a piece of furniture, said fastening device comprising: a base part for fixing against a piece of furniture; and an intermediate part comprising a threaded shank which can be screwed into a threaded bore hole in a rod, and a head having a stop area which can be mounted against said base part.
 13. A fastening device as in claim 12 wherein said base part is provided with an external thread, said fastening device further comprising a sleeve having an internal thread with engages said external thread of said base part.
 14. A fastening device as in claim 12 wherein said stop area comprises a beveled annular area.
 15. A fastening device as in claim 14 wherein said base part comprises a beveled annular area which contacts said beveled annular area on said intermediate part.
 16. A fastening device as in claim 12 wherein said head has two oppositely facing parallel flats.
 17. A fastening device as in claim 12 wherein said base part 4 has a hole for fastening said base part to said furniture, said hole having an oval cross-section.
 18. A fastening device as in claim 17 wherein said hole is eccentric.
 19. A fastening device as in claim 13 wherein said sleeve has an internal groove which receives a sealing ring for sealing said sleeve about said rod.
 20. A fastening device as in claim 13 wherein said sleeve has an internal shoulder facing said intermediate part.
 21. A fastening device as in claim 13 wherein said sleeve has two oppositely facing parallel flats.
 22. A fastening device as in claim 12 wherein said rod can be adjusted over a length of +/−4 mm. 